Turn, turn, turn

How can you get a hydrangea to change its color? Funny you should ask, because we have all the details, plus photos and commentary on the change of seasons and the role of flowers in wedding lore. More at blog.amynelsonhahn.info

Flora cambia

Sweet chameleon,
changeful as the year,
the rosy crimson
just tinging these vessels
is all that mourns the summer,
all that's left of their former
royal crush of
passionate magenta.
Autumn sweeps its brush
of subtlety and scathes
color from flora,
delivering swaths
among the woods.

(c) copyright Amy Nelson Hahn 2011
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Our eire is up

Welcome to the Irish 2000 Music and Arts Festival in Ballston Spa, NY -- we've got music and photos from contemporary Celtic rock bands Seven Nations and Gaelic Storm. Bagpipes, fiddles, this is where it's at! Photos, commentary at blog.amynelsonhahn.info

Song (for Gaelic Storm)

Mandolay lo lyre,
unspoken choruses
go unchanted rather sung
round unearthly fire --
all cast together,
an unbroken spell --
Mandolay lo lay
we'll never tell.
If a bow string falls
mandalay
If a shrill voice quickens
lay lo lay.
If you call me beggar
so much the better
to cherish my welcome
one sweet day
Mandalay...

Copyright (c) 2011 Amy Nelson Hahn

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Myth congeniality

This tree branch...well, Andrew, sometimes to me, it looks like a raven. Or maybe even a lizard. That's what happens when you enter the realm of myth time. You start to see things differently. The Schaghticoke indians have their own way of looking at it -- find out more about them, too. More photos and info at blog.amynelsonhahn.info

Totem, Schaghticoke

Howt! I stare
into your fire eye --
both bird and reptile,
scales and feathers shaking
glaring out of time
into the transit of recovery.
Haumpt! I dare
to breathe again
and the imaginary
of your several selves
turning in the north wind
unfolds and burns its purpose,
sharing space with my prayers.

Copyright (c) 2011 Amy Nelson Hahn

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By any other name

When is a rose bush just a rose bush? Well, certainly not in this blogpost, where the flowers take on a life of their own. Discussion of making meaning through ekphrasis and some lovely photos of multiflora roses, at blog.amynelsonhahn.info

Ramble roses

Cousins toward the fence,
nothing purples like a poke
from your thin fingers.
Rosaline hue,
though you are overdue
for bramble shirring --
enough of all this
rampant fleuring;
you pique and parson
off the lot.
What? Twenty-four of you?
It overfloats the cottage
with a boulverse of corsages,
each leaflet nimbly covering
each sister leaflet's folly,
each reddened cheek a hush
and a pensive glance,
a turn along the avenue.

Copyright (c) 2011 Amy Nelson Hahn

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Sacre bleu

Blue -- okay, maybe not known as the happiest color. But it certainly can be productive artistically. And thought-provoking. A "blue mood" in photographs may convey some warm sentiments...find out more at blog.amynelsonhahn.info

Blue

In your cadmium double,
equally liquid,
there is the trance
and sentimental wandering
of my dearest eye --
calm where it is calm,
divided by the dark expanse
I cannot marginalize
of often quite traverse.
Located cross this yearning world,
I find my mirrored soul;
abreast of the wide divide,
a blue that echoes mine.

Copyright (c) 2011 Amy Nelson Hahn

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Pigs is pigs

Four legs good, two legs...well, not so tasty, we hope. Andrew shares some photos of the pigs at the Columbia County Fair, but I add some thoughts as to the awkward relationship between a pig and its own deliciousness. To be continued, at blog.amynelsonhahn.info

Animal farm

Such ill manners
and yet such lovely
pink ears --
no wonder all the young girls
adore you so,
even though
you root in the muck.
Everyone needs a rumbler
to stir things up a bit.
Hard to wear out such a
fathomless welcome
as a maiden heart;
but everyone does know --
bacon is tasty of a morning;
and crisp.
Maybe in another life
you'll be the king presiding,
passing judgment
on sweeter injustices
than simply
being good to eat.

Copyright (c) 2011 Amy Nelson Hahn

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Fleeced again

Is a ram really "ram tough"? Or is it "soft as a lamb"? Can it be both? Looking at the Rambouillet sheep at the Columbia County Fair, we consider the possibilities. Photos and discussion at blog.amynelsonhahn.info

Argosy

The fairness of your eye
belies the barbary mettle
churning behind its kind resolve;
and each curlicue swirl
of carapace declares,
you won't be tampered lightly,
though your fine garment
breeds gentle fortunes.
The delves and furrows,
the deft chenille
that girds your flanks
decries your martial image
with the pale softness of its whorl.

Copyright (c) 2011 Amy Nelson Hahn

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